The Rice is in the Boot!

 

I might have mentioned in my previous post that this farm where I have landed is somewhat unique. First, this farm is also a seed bank, and grains such as wheat, barley, and rye are grown on a small scale. 

We also grow rice on a small scale.

Now, I have to explain a bit here. This farm is located on an island in the Pacific Northwest of the United States off the Washington State coast. We are at a latitude of 48.59 degrees North. Not only is the climate somewhat chilly, we have long days and short nights in the summer. Rice is sensitive to the length of day, or perhaps more accurate, the length of night. Add the intolerance to cold at certain stages of the rice plant’s development, to the sensitivity to the length of the night, and you can see why it is a bit more challenging to grow rice here. 

But, it is possible. 

It is pretty amazing to me to see it growing here in such an unlikely place. As to why grow it here when there are other places in the world that have a climate and latitude that are far more suited to growing rice, well, that will have to be for another post.

It is complicated. 

I will add that the rice is growing in a hoop house and the day-length is controlled with blackout coverings. 

It has been a bit of a strange weather year. The temperatures have fluctuated quite a bit and fall is definitely creeping in. The rice, along with a few other crops, might not make it to full maturity. This farm is off-grid and we don’t use artificial heat in the hoop houses although, we do use solar power to vent them when needed. 

In between working in the gardens and getting my trailer ready to move to a different spot, I am gathering and drying herbs and making tinctures. 

Here are the latest, Shepherds Purse, Grape leaf, and Lemon Balm. The hops I gathered are nearly dry enough to make tincture and some will be kept for dried stock. I also have Mallow drying, both root and leaf, and Stinging Nettle seed. I hope to be growing and harvesting a lot more herbs next year. In the meantime, there is still hawthorn berries to harvest and willow bark I dried to tincture. 

Well, it is late and I must get some rest so I will wrap up this blog post. I am eagerly awaiting the ripening of some of the beans grown from older seed I did a rescue process on. 

The blog posts will be shifting from farm gardens to trailer remodel as the seasons change. I will also be picking up my sketch pad and pencils soon. It will feel good to get back to art.

 I am ready. 

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

-Renee

September, Already?

 

I took a look at the last time I posted to my blog. I am a bit embarrassed that the previous post was last winter! 

It was a funny year, weather-wise. Winter hung on until May and then suddenly it was summer. Here on the farm we have been in a constant rush to get the garden in and keep up with everything. 

Summer came on with a vengeance and everything shot up, flowered, and fruited, including the grass and weeds. 

We have been dealing with cute, fuzzy, wild rabbits cutting their way through the fences to decimate our wheat overnight. The voles have multiplied and cut down the beans at the stem and left them dangling on supports. They have tunneled into the potato beds and wreaked havoc amongst the tubers. 

It has been a constant battle this year. In spite of that, we have managed to harvest a few things. 

We enjoyed eating ripe figs fresh off the trees growing in the hoop house and wild berries have been a welcomed addition to our diets. Volunteer cherry tomatoes and ground cherries have been a constant snack. Kale and mustard greens grow freely on the farm and we eat them until we can’t eat anymore. There were a few potatoes the voles missed and hopefully the protection I put around the beans we are growing to renew the seed stock for the seed bank will hold. 

It is now down to a race of what will ripen before fall truly arrives and shuts down the summer growing season.

Last fall, I planted my first bed of wheat in my herb garden. I grew Maris Widgeon wheat and it did very well as shown in the photo above. I had a good harvest and as soon as I have time to thresh, winnow, and weigh it, I will do a little report on it. Last year I had helped to plant wheat and barley but this was the first bed I grew on my own. 

I continue my studies in growing and using medicinal herbs and the medicinal herb garden has made progress. Today I harvested hops to make into tinctures and teas. My fingers are stained with the yellow pollen and have taken on the distinctive smell of hops.

Finally, as fall has announced that it is on the way, it is time to move the Scarlet Raven to a new spot. I will be doing a complete overhaul to remedy the lack of weather proofing and finally build out the interior properly. 

I will be filming that process and more, to be announced in a near future post. 

I have a lot to share from this incredible learning journey I have been on and I am finally ready start sharing. 

Hang on! It will be a joyful deep dive into growing food, building skills, resilient off-grid living, creativity, and art.

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

Renee

A Tale of Many Wheats

 

Spring has just barely arrived here in the Maritime Pacific Northwest of the USA. The second La Niña year in a row has been playing havoc with our usual weather patterns, and as a result, we are about 7° F below normal. That might not seem like much, but plants and humans are definitely feeling the cold spring. 

We are just starting to plant spring wheats and we sorted a few varieties to get the spring season wheats ready for planting. This is my first time planting wheat and handling the seed. There are so many different varieties and configurations. They are all beautiful. 

These are just a few selections from the many wheat varieties in the Orcas Island Seed Bank. After we laid the wheats out Dan, the resident biologist, inspected each seed variety, setting aside some that were not spring wheats, and sorted out the ones we would grow. 

From there, we threshed and winnowed the wheat seed by hand and put them in labeled coin envelopes to be planted. A few days later we planted them in one of the beds we had prepared earlier. 

Here they are all planted in their labeled sections. The ground has been firmly pressed around the seeds and a floating row cover was placed over them to discourage the birds from eating the wheat seed. 

After a bit of time, rain, and sun, the wheat came up! At the moment it looks like grass, which of course it is. 

As I mentioned above, this was my first time growing wheat. I have grown oats and barley, but not wheat. I am continuing to add to my gardening skills. 

I will have words to add to that thought at the end of the growing season. I will also share a post on the resulting harvest from the planting above.

Finally, I have been so busy with clearing, garden bed prep, seed starting, and planting that I haven't had much time to work on my cargo trailer and drawing and painting are on a temporary hold. 

This is going to be a busy year.

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

-Renee

Regenerating Old Seed-Part One

We have been having a cold, wet spring this year in the Pacific Northwest and the temperature and weather feels more like February or March. I have to remind myself that it is the middle of May!

It is time to get the gardens planted and to that purpose, I have been learning how to regenerate old seed.

The seed above belongs to the Orcas Island Seed Bank and I will be putting a link to the website up in a sidebar in addition to the linked name above. Most of the seeds in the seed bank are hard to find varieties that have been proven to grow in this specific island climate. Like all seed, they occasionally need to be renewed by growing them out and saving the new seed that they produce. 

I have been learning a very specific process of slowly waking the seeds up by humidifying the seed rather than hydrating. This slow process of adding a few drops of water at a time and allowing the seed's natural repair process to be activated has been very fascinating to me. Not all the seeds make it. Only four out of the five remaining pea seeds in the above photo made it. They are now about four inches tall and growing in a small spot bed in the garden. All the seed will be saved from these four plants if they make it. The seeds will continue to add to the adaption of this particular pea to this area.  

This is a very general description of what I am learning to do. I need to study up on the science of what the actual process is and will follow up with a more detailed description for those who are interested.

Like most gardeners, I have a collection of old seed and I have been practicing this technique on seeds that are not so precious as these. So far, I have been able to regenerate most of the seed I have worked with. There are many factors involved in the success or failure including whether the seed was saved or stored properly, the temperature of the regenerating seeds, the amount of moisture being applied, etc.. Add to all of the above a few challenges of being on an off-grid farm. 

I will be writing another part to this post as I learn more. 

On a more personal note, I am slowly settling into my little cargo trailer. I have been completely re-building the inside. It is always challenging to be living in a construction zone but living in a tiny space adds to the challenge. I will have an update on the Scarlet Raven in the next post.

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

-Renee